130 Gal Planted Turtle Setup - Worklog

[boasist]

And so it begins....

Setting up a 130 gallon tank for my turtle, which currently lives in a 55 gallon. I have ordered most parts, yet no C02 parts as I'll be running the tank through cycling as those parts arrive.

Here is a list of the parts

130 gallon glass tank
DIY Stand
Eheim 2080 Filter
Theo 400w heater
DIY Inline heater/reactor
4x54w TEK
2x6700k Current USA
2x10k Current USA
Coralife Dual Timer
AQ Plants Regulator
10# C02 Tank
AM Pinpoint PH Controller
Eco Complete

[boasist]

Few parts have arrived this week, here are some photos of this filter....this thing is HUGE, really look forward to seeing it perform.



Finishing the stand today, hopefully will be filling the tank up as well. Waiting on the heyco adapter part to arrive....it has taken some time, but it was free, so whats the worry.

[Raul-7]

Is it a soft-shelled species?

[boasist]

no it is a RES. The LFS by me has a softshelled there, really cool looking, odd that they have it in the same tank as a snapper though.

[natx]

I'm going to have to make the swap to a bigger tank for my RES soon too.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/vi...-vivarium.html

[boasist]

Originally Posted by natx

I'm going to have to make the swap to a bigger tank for my RES soon too.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/vi...-vivarium.html

I saw that thread too, amazing setup, really setting some ideas in my head, I already want to take out this glass shelf that the tank builder put in when I told him I was doing a turtle setup.

[Kelley]

Are you worried about the turtle eating your plants?

[boasist]

End of Day Wrapup

Well, went to pickup the tank today, all looked good there, unfortunately though, the eco complete hadn't came in yet, nor did the heyco part. So, this pushes the actual water part until next weekend.

At any rate, here are some photos as I finished up the stand, and brought it home.


This here is the stand, with the eheim and reactor/heater just chilling in there, big time.



Some parts for the filter/stand, the wooden piece is a top mount, it sits on top of the stand, and houses the bottom of the tank, help distribute weight, and hides the black border on the tank.


One filter, all this media 8L of substrat PRO, 4L of Efimech, 1 fine pad, 1 coarse pad.


Reactor/heater mounted in its location


In its final resting spot. I had to make a few changes to the exhaust tube, it was too short so I used one of the tubes from the intake to extend it, now it fits just right.


Tomorrow I get some proper fittings for my reactor (I bought 3/4" ID fittings, needed OD), then wait till thursday when the shop opens again to pickup the ECO.

[natx]

Originally Posted by boasist

End of Day Wrapup

Well, went to pickup the tank today, all looked good there, unfortunately though, the eco complete hadn't came in yet, nor did the heyco part. So, this pushes the actual water part until next weekend.

Are you getting Eco Complete because you're going to try and grow submerged plants? Best of luck, but the cynic in me combined with my experience so far says that probably won't end well. Here's hoping you get it working though, because I'll be more than happy to try and duplicate your success.

I've had great luck with terrestrial plants, but anything I try to grow underwater gets immediately torn out of the groung, eaten and/or shredded, and then lodged in the filter intake.

[boasist]

It took some time, but I have my current setup planted. This was after much trial and error.

He tears through anacharis, duckweed, sword plants, hairgrass, and another floating plant which the name escapes me now.

I have been having luck with Crypts, and banana plant.

I'll probably really push my luck, I'm quite sure he'll tear through any kind of moss, so I'll get something cheap that may be able to grow faster than he can eat it. I'm also looking at a carpet plant, maybe glosso, with the same principle in mind.

[boasist]

Was able to get some plumbing done today, just waiting on the heater/heyvo part to come in tomorrow.

Here we have the input of the reactor


Full internal plumbing shot, you can see the tank, filter input, and the CO2 input.


Quick shot after a leak test, after putting this wood in here, its quite clear more is needed. Or something to help scape with...any ideas?

[boasist]

WooHoo!! The heyco parts have arrived!

Was able to put the heater into the reactor.

Also ordered cork, silicone, and coconut bark for the under construction basking area.

[ringram]

Yeah, I would be interested to see if the turtle doesn't thrash up the submerged plants. We'll see. The setup looks great! I really like that heater screwed into the reactor piece. Any ideas on plant species, both for underwater and land?
-Ryan

[Nihongo]

Your stand does not look strong enough to hold 1400 lbs of water!!! Add some more reinforcement to the side and top.

[FelixAvery]

^^ i agree that will snap! you need to use 2 by 2! remake it with mortice and tenon joints aswell